


Trigger

by Tah the Trickster (TahTheTrickster)



Category: Chrono Trigger
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everyone Is Gay, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-04-23 03:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4860914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TahTheTrickster/pseuds/Tah%20the%20Trickster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU of the entire Chrono Trigger game where Crono sleeps in on the day of the festival so Lucca goes on all the adventures and gets the girls instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

6 A.M. was honestly way earlier than I at all cared to be awake, but I needed to boot Gato up, give him a final buffing, and send him on his way with the bulk of the Telepod. I needed it set up as early as possible to give myself time to finish some last-minute calibrations and... find some volunteers. Hopefully. Given the whole incident with the GATO mark one a few months ago, I was likely to have some trouble getting people to one, come see the Telepod, and two, trust my inventing skills enough to test it.

It's amazing how a three-minute robot rampage is enough to ruin a girl's credibility all in one fell swoop. It was almost insulting.

Nonetheless, Gato was now fully operational and already on his way to Leene Square with the Telepod components. I sucked back the last of the coffee I'd made, rinsed out the pot, and set it up to refill itself whenever my parents woke on their own. No sense in all of us getting up at a terrible hour.

I grabbed my pen and notepad, then, and I was off.

There weren't tons of numbers I still had to work out. Mostly just coordinates and distance between the two pods. Plus I wanted to double-check my math for determining the exact mass of a human, so... I tutted softly and clicked my pen. I'd have to calculate and walk.

I'd made the trek between my house and Leene Square a dozen times in the past few days, so I could make it almost completely without looking now. Over the bridge—through the center of town—around Crono's house—around the fountain in the Square—

Had I been paying closer attention, I might've noticed her in time, I was busy trying to remember my square roots. I ran smack into her.

We crumpled to the ground, tangled up in each other. My glasses went flying, to say nothing of my pen and pad, and I banged the devil out of my elbow.

"Geez," I heard a girl's voice groan, "that hurt!"

"Sorry, sorry," I mumbled, mortified, patting around the cobblestones for my glasses.

"No, that was my fault, I'm so sorry," she said. I squinted in her general direction, but couldn't make out more than a thick blur. "Are you okay?"

"Do you see my glasses anywhere?" I asked, rubbing my elbow. "I can't see anything without them."

"Oh! Uh..." I heard her shifting around to look. "Right here!"

She placed my glasses into my hand and I slipped them on.

I was immediately met with the sight of a devastatingly gorgeous girl kneeling over me in concern. Heat dashed my face, and I shrank down into my scarf. Geez, she was something else. And I'd run face-first into her. Smooth move, Lucca.

"Sorry," I muttered again, feeling like an absolute moron.

"It's okay," the girl said, her hand moving up towards her throat, "it was my f... oh no." She patted around her neck and then stood sharply, looking around frantically. "My pendant," she groaned.

"Are you alright?" I asked, shoving myself to my feet.

"I'm fine, just..." She groaned and ran her fingers back through her blonde hair. "Oh, don't tell me I lost it..."

I was tempted to gather my notes and leave her to search in peace, but I felt a little like I had to redeem myself after making a fool of my first impression. So I began to look as well.

It had skittered under the archway of Leene's Bell (which was now clanging obnoxiously) so I scooped it up, checked for obvious damage, and returned to where she was still checking around the staircase.

"Hey," I called, gathering her attention. "Is this it?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, thank goodness!" She trotted over to me. "That has a lot of sentimental value!" I placed the necklace in her hand, and she immediately put it on again. She seemed to relax immediately. "Thank you so much."

"Oh... no problem," I muttered, kneeling to gather my notes off the cobblestones. The girl knelt to help me, much to my increased embarrassment.

"I came to see the festival," she told me with a smile. "Are you from around here?"

"...Yeah..." I really could not talk to girls.

"I feel a little out of place here," she admitted. "Would you mind if I walked around with you for awhile?"

I knew I had to be blushing a ridiculous shade of red at this point, but she had the decency not to comment on it. "Oh, uh..." I stammered. "I'm... not sure I'd be very interesting to walk with, I have to set up my invention to display and..."

She lit up at those words "You're an inventor?" she gasped, clasping her hands together. "That's incredible! I'd love to see your inventions!"

I rocked back on my heels. "Oh... you would?" That would be a first. "Well... if you don't mind being bored to tears watching me set up then... yeah, c'mon, it's just up these stairs."

She grinned broadly, leaping to her feet with a sheaf of my notes in her hands. "Great! You're a real lady!" She settled down, reaching down to help me up. "Oh, by the way, my name is uh..." A flicker of uncertainty touched her expression before she brightened up again. "Marle! And you?"

Her reaction struck me odd, but this was the first time a pretty girl had ever shown me any positive attention so I decided maybe not to question it. "Lucca," I said, holding out my hand. "Lucca Ashtear, inventor extraordinaire! ...Or, uh, soon to be."

"What a nice name," Marle said, grinning. "Pleased to meet you. Now, lead on!"


	2. Chapter 2

"So what's it do?" Marle asked immediately upon seeing the Telepod.

I launched into my practiced spiel about how the initial pod would scan an item placed on it, digitally deconstruct the item down to the molecular level—Marle's face went blank. I cleared my throat, embarrassed. "Sorry," I said. "I'm used to talking with my dad about this stuff. In layman's terms, anything on the left telepod," I pointed at it, "will be teleported to the one on the right."

Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed one of my hands in both of hers. "Wow, that's incredible! Can you show me? Please?"

I had to admit, I wasn't used to pretty girls getting excited over my inventions. I cleared my throat and scratched my flushed cheek. "Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah, sure." I doffed my cap, letting loose my lilac hair, and walked it over to the initial pod, laying it down on the floor.

I had to work fast to set the power running and throw the switch at once, but with a high-pitched whine and a burst of static that set my hair on edge, the cap vanished and rearranged itself on the second pod. I clapped once and spun about, laughing delightedly. _It worked!_

Marle's eyes were wide with amazement. "Wow, Lucca, that's incredible!" She rushed to the pod to pick up my cap, turning it over in her hands to verify that it was all in one piece. Her eyes met mine when she looked up again. "Can it transport people, too?"

I considered that as I fixed my cap over my head again. There wasn't any reason why it shouldn't. Humans were made of molecules just like anything else I'd thrown at it. "Yeah," I found myself saying confidently. "Absolutely."

"I want to try!" She rushed to the initial pod before I had the chance to say anything. Her eyes sparkled with pleasure, and something about her looked oddly familiar in that moment, but she turned her back to me before I could place it. "C'mon, let's do it!" she called over her shoulder, practically vibrating with excitement.

I brushed my hair back behind my ear, stalling. "You sure? You'd be one of the first people to get put through it," I warned her. "You can still back out if you want."

"No way! Throw the switch!"

Her enthusiasm was a welcome break from my usual hecklers and skeptics. It was nice to have someone around who appreciated my hard work and inventions. I beamed at her and obediently went to power up the machine once more.

I should've tried harder to warn her away until I'd tested it further. I should've checked to make sure she didn't have anything on her that would interfere with the telepod's spatial/temporal algorithms. And I certainly should've included a failsafe in the device that would shut the damned thing down in case of an emergency—such as, for example, an existing anomaly sparked into life by the material in an old, expensive pendant.

There were a lot of things I realistically _should've_ done. But when the telepod near-exploded, sending me careening back on my ass, and tore a hole in spacetime itself, there was little I could do but gape as Marle was swept away, leaving her pendant behind her.

Shit.

I pocketed the pendant and bolted for home, my sheaf of notes clutched tightly in hand. I had to figure out a way to stabilize that anomaly ASAP, and with any luck I'd be able to use the pendant as a tether to figure out, one, where Marle had vanished off to, and two, bounce us both back to the telepods. Simple, right?

I took a closer look at the back of the pendant in hopes that it'd give me some sort of clue. I wasn't entirely sure of the material, but clearly something about it was enough to affect the warp field. Maybe I could chip off a piece of the pendant to use as a focusing point to help stabilize the anomaly and recreate a temporary passage to cross to... wherever she'd gotten dumped out. I flipped the pendant over.

That was Guardia's royal crest.

Double shit. I _knew_ she'd looked familiar.

Now I really had to book it. It was only a matter of time before people began searching for the freaking _princess_ —and in turn, only a matter of time before they got wind that she'd been seen last with me. Then they'd come looking for me.

I picked up the pace.

With any luck, I could get to my lab, suck down some coffee brewed extra-strong, piece something together to stabilize that portal, grab Marle, and get home before anybody missed us. Of course, with _my_ luck, I was liable to lose her entirely and get thoroughly thrashed as soon as they found out I was the one who'd gotten her lost out somewhere in spacetime.

Yeesh. Face-to-face with the prospect of my own death or imprisonment before I was even old enough to legally drink. I was going to need get this stabilizer prototype of mine whipped up as quickly as I was able. Maybe my dad could give me a hand. He'd helped me out with some of the initial equations for the telepod, after all, and a second set of eyes on the stabilizer prototype certainly couldn't hurt either.

I just had to come up with a decent cover story as to why, exactly, I'd abandoned my latest invention at the fair and had to stabilize and harness a temporal/spatial anomaly in the spacetime continuum. How hard could that realistically be, anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 2 and 3 were sponsored by tumblr user supernerdallen! If you want to sponsor some chapters, use my commission information on my profile page to get in touch with me!


	3. Chapter 3

It took the better part of the day, but with my dad's assistance, three pots of extra-strength coffee, and a notebook full of my studies on spatial/temporal mechanics, I managed to smash a device together that would in theory stabilize an anomaly like the one that'd swept Marle (or, rather, Princess Nadia) out of present spacetime. At least, stabilize it enough for me to side-step through dimensions.

Still, even with sound logic, I was jittery with nerves and caffeine when I ran back to the telepods. There was any number of things that could go wrong with theoretical science, not least of which I managed to get us _both_ lost in spacetime. At least in that case, I wouldn't have to face the possibility of a legal death sentence. But, for better or worse, the Key lit up with recognition as I approached the Gate. Good, at least one part of it worked.

I pocketed the princess' pendant, then, and took a deep breath to steel my resolve. With a flick of the wrist I twisted the Key's many-faceted blade.

Wind rushed past my ears, deafening, roaring, and I couldn't open my eyes for it. Swirls of blue and violet danced before my shuttered eyes to the sound of the black winds blowing, the ground was wrenched violently from under my feet, and I was falling, falling, falling—

And then there was grass under my feet, and I stumbled hard and landed on my knees. Cripes, what a trip. I peeled my eyelids open again and blinked hard at the sudden brightness of sunlight filtering through the trees' foliage around me.

_Trees?_

I looked around in wonder. Apparently my rudimentary Key had worked—I had no idea where or when I was anymore.

Had I not been more concerned with the latter fact, the proof that my theoretical science was correct would've sent me into cackles of delight. But first, I had to figure out where I was, and more importantly, where the princess was. Geez, this could be nightmarish already. I knew so little about her that I couldn't even begin to wonder where she'd go after being transported through space and time itself.

A rustle from behind me set me whipping around, my airgun drawn. I found myself cursing that I hadn't thought to grab something with a little more kick with me. I had no idea what kind of creatures roamed this land in different times; my little gun likely would have little effect at all. Still, I aimed the airgun in the direction of the rustling, mentally preparing myself for whatever was about to show itself.

Then an imp rolled out of the bushes, cackling and wagging its tongue, and I pursed my lips. I didn't have time for this.

I sent the little creature running in short order, and then set off through the thick woods in search of a town or some other sign of civilization. Surely the princess couldn't have gotten that far, right? She was a princess; she was probably used to having other people come fetch her. I reassured myself with those thoughts as I stumbled and cursed my way through the forest.

It was a stroke of luck that I managed to wander out of the forest and directly into a town. An uncertain shiver rolled down my spine. The town was built in a nearly identical layout to Truce from my own time. _When am I?_ I holstered my little gun again and hesitantly started through the bustling little town, keeping my ears trained for any useful information I could gather. Maybe someone else had seen her.

The first few moments were of little help—idle gossip, petty arguments. Then, something of note—the current queen, Leene, was found by the guards wandering up in the mountains.

I wasn't very good with history (never really was my subject) but I had a vague recollection of a Queen Leene several generations before the current royal family. She'd gone missing, but... but she'd been found and returned by a champion, not by the royal guard... I thought, anyway. Could that be her? Surely they wouldn't mistake their own queen, but... maybe there was a family resemblance or something. Maybe it was Nadia.

It was the best lead I had, anyway.

I hurried through the town to the castle. If I was lucky, maybe I could catch up to her and get out of here before anyone noticed me kidnapping the "queen." I'd been lucky enough so far. Maybe fate was on my side this time.

Unfortunately, my luck ran out about as soon as I reached the castle. I tried to ease my way past the posted guards, but was met with a spear at stomach-level.

"Halt," one of the guards spoke, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Who goes there?"

"Um." Yep. Eloquent as always, Lucca.

"Check out that hair," the other guard snickered. I suddenly felt a self-conscious surge of heat in my face and nervously twisted the ends of my lilac locks. "Where're you from, kid? Are you one of Magus' troopers?"

The first guard gave a bark of laughter. "Hardly! This kid never would've made the cut."

Though I wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, I was pretty sure I ought to be offended. "Hey—!"

"Beat it," the second man ordered between guffaws. My hands balled into fists.

"N-now you wait just a minute—" I began in frustration.

"Stop that at once!" a melodic voice ordered immediately. We looked up and were immediately met with the radiant sight of the queen, all dressed up in a silken blue dress. I felt heat rush to my face a second time, albeit for another reason. I really needed to work on my ability to deal with pretty girls.

"Queen Leene!" both guards exclaimed, immediately falling to bent knees. I hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not I should follow suit.

"Show your manners," the woman commanded sternly, hands on hips. "This is a friend of mine!"

"But your majesty," one of the guards protested, "there's something odd about her!"

She looked between the two of them with an icy glare. "You refuse to obey my orders?"

"Forgive me, my lady," he resigned himself humbly. He stood and faced me again. "Please enter, ma'am."

I scarcely caught the woman's giggle as she spun on her heel and left. I watched silently, enraptured, as she departed.

Then I recalled that she was the one I was here for. I really needed to get it together.

I asked the suddenly-much-nicer guardsmen where she was going, and upon being directed to the queen's chambers, set off again up endless flights of stairs in the direction of her boudoir. Another guard was posted at the entrance, and I worried briefly that there would be a second confrontation, but he merely intoned "The queen awaits," before stepping aside to grant me entrance.

The room was every bit as extravagant as I'd expected of a royal bedroom, littered with various attendants about the room. The queen stood at the far end of the room, her back facing me. I cleared my throat awkwardly and she spun. A smile touched her face. "Ah, there you are," she said. She cast her gaze about the room and called their attention with a gentle cough. "Please leave us," she spoke gracefully. "I need to talk to this individual."

The attendants exchanged knowing looks that I couldn't even begin to understand and left in a flurry of "Certainly, your majesty"s.

When the door finally closed behind them, leaving us alone, she turned away from me again. "Come nearer, please," she said.

I removed my cap, not entirely certain of protocol when addressing royalty, and inched closer to her, till she was scarcely an arms length away.

She gave another one of those charming little giggles before turning about again.

"Fooled you, didn't I, Lucca?" she teased, that wide grin touching her face again. "It's me! But everyone keeps calling me Leene!" She reached out and grasped my hand in both of hers, squeezing it fondly. Any words I'd had planned dropped from my mind in an instant, and I blushed _again_. "I'm so relieved you're here," she said, dropping her voice to a low breath. "We barely know each other, but somehow, I knew you'd come for me..."

I stammered briefly and nearly got out a "no problem," but then an odd look crossed her face.

"Something's wrong," she gasped, dropping my hand and reeling backwards. Her face went ashen and she clutched at her stomach. "What's happening?" she choked out, eyes rolling back. "I feel like I'm being torn apart!" She suddenly blurred at the edges, as though I'd removed my glasses, and she stumbled to the ground. "Help me, Lucca!" she cried out. I lunged for her, intending to do... I don't know, something... and my hands phased right through her. "I'm scared! Please—Lucca, help me!"

Then she was gone.

What a day this was turning out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 2 and 3 were sponsored by tumblr user supernerdallen! If you want to sponsor some chapters, use my commission information on my profile page to get in touch with me!


	4. Chapter 4

Okay. Right. Okay. So maybe my vague recollections of Guardia's history wasn't totally off, then. I was right about the royal guards not being the ones to rescue her. So, if the real queen  _ wasn't _ rescued, then... Well, I supposed she'd get killed in the end. And if there was no queen Leene, there was no continued line... ergo, there was no princess Nadia. Marle. Whatever.

I edged out of the room, feeling vaguely sick to my stomach. That was the second time in a day (however long apart those days were) that I'd contributed to the disappearance of royalty. This was not a habit I really wanted to encourage.

I nearly ran into a maid, I was so wrapped up in my thoughts. Her eyes flickered with recognition, and she caught me by the arm. "Has she dismissed you already?" she asked, surprise etched into her features at how briefly the queen had kept me. I supposed most private audiences with royalty lasted longer.

"Uh... yeah," I muttered, scratching at my neck. I was never particularly comfortable with lying.

"You were polite, of course?" she demanded. Then, before I could reply, her eyes narrowed just slightly: "You didn't do anything...  _ funny, _ did you?"

I felt my face go warm at the implications. I mean... in the sense that she meant, no, but... well, contributing to the literal vanishing of royalty couldn't really be classed as anything but funny business, really. I averted my gaze and mumbled something like an affirmative.

Her gasp was less scandalized than expected and more delighted than I would've liked. When I got the nerve to look her in the eye again, she was grinning wickedly. "Oh, we can't let this tidbit out of the castle!" she said, clapping her hands together. And with that she left—and immediately began whispering with another lingering maid, whose eyes went wide as she spoke.

A nearby knight and I shared a long-suffering look.

My ears felt hot as I had to sidle past the congregation of maids, and I heard the knight mutter something about hating the gossip around here. I tended to agree with him. Hopefully they'd be too busy chattering to notice that the queen was gone  _ again. _

Geez, I didn't even know where to start looking. If I had more time maybe I could pop back to the year 1000 and do some research to figure out where she was found, but there was no telling at this point whether I'd irreversibly changed history books yet. For all I knew, as soon as I got dumped out of the Gate, I'd disappear, myself, by accidentally meddling with some minute artifact in time that'd affect my own conception, or that of one of my direct ancestral line starting from whatever-year-this was to now—

Ugh. Time travel was a mess.

I needed a drink.

I mentally reviewed everything I could recall about the queen's disappearance as I made the trek back to Truce. She disappeared—check. Someone saved her—uncheck. Where they saved her  _ from _ —I had no idea. Dammit! I should've paid more attention in my history lessons. All the scientific knowledge in the world wasn't any help to me now.

Something of a headache had set into my skull by the time I reached Truce's inn. I bought a cider and settled into my barstool with my mug to think. I wished I was old enough for something stronger; I felt like after today, I really deserved it.

"Hey," came a voice off to my right, drawing my attention from staring at the woodgrain of the bar. The speaker was a somewhat grimy-looking man sporting a thick brown mustache and a beige headband. I raised a brow; I couldn't imagine what he wanted. "Are you a stranger here, too?" he asked, helping himself to the seat next to me. I ground my teeth.

"Something like that," I said, half-mumbling it into my mug. It was the most honest answer I could give, I supposed.

"I'm Toma," he introduced himself, sticking out his gloved hand, "the explorer." I gave him a skeptical glance but shook the proffered hand. "If you're buying, I'll tell you a story." He grinned in what I could only assume he thought was a very fetching expression.

I was half-tempted to tell him straight where he and his stories could go, but instead I just sighed. "Sure, why not," I said, digging some coins out of my pocket to place on the bar. "I've had the worst day in the world. Regale me with your stories, Toma."

He blinked hard, either bemused or surprised, but grinned broadly and accepted the coins. He waved over a bartender to fetch him some ale. He didn't begin his story until the mug was firmly in hand, and he'd taken a lengthy pull from it. He wiped the back of his hand on his mouth and gave me another grin. "Thanks," he said, leaning heavily on the bar. "Now—the story. It's about the missing queen."

_ That _ made me look up. I turned wide eyes onto him. He seemed pleased to have my attention.

"She disappeared while visiting that cathedral to the west, and—"

"Haven't you heard?" the bartender scoffed. I could've throttled him.

"Beg your pardon?" Toma asked, clearly affronted.

"She was found just this morning, you bum!"

" _ What? _ " he yelped, brow furrowed in shock.

"In the mountains to the east!"

Toma slumped in his seat, defeated. He took another long draft of his drink and gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry," he had the decency to offer. "Never mind..." As he turned away, I heard him mutter, "I was  _ sure _ there was something about that cathedral..."

I downed the rest of my cider, snapped the mug back onto the bar, and booked it out of there. It was a slim chance, but it was a better lead than I was liable to get anywhere else—and there was no telling how much longer I had till the real queen was killed by her kidnapper.

I tried to run the full distance, but a stitch in my side dropped my speed down to a brisk jog. I had to stop outside the cathedral to catch my breath. I  _ really _ needed to get into shape. Evidently lab work was doing absolutely  _ nothing _ for my fitness.

Once my breathing had settled back into its normal rhythm, I eased the door open. Even now, just before dusk, it was much darker inside than it should've been, with the large stained glass windows on the far wall streaming in the last dregs of sunlight, fraught with dust particles. As the door closed behind me, something like a shadow slithered under my feet. I jumped back with a yelp.

"Oh," purred a sickeningly sweet voice before me. I looked up, heart banging against my ribs. It was just a nun, but—something was...  _ off. _ Her smile never faded; it was a wonder she could speak at all through such a toothy grin. "My, what a delicious..." Her eyes flickered practically yellow in the twilight. "Ah...  _ delightful _ -looking human!"

"Er..." I edged around her, keeping my gaze trained on those unsettling serpentine eyes of hers. "Thank... you...? Have you seen, uh... has the queen dropped by here recently?"

"We haven't seen her," came yet another sickly saccharine voice from behind me. I leapt forward and whipped around, hearing my pulse thrumming in my ears. It was another nun, wearing that same eerie too-broad smile on her face. "We're sorry we couldn't help you out more. But maybe you'd like to stay around for our organ recital? It's a real killer!"

"Ah—no, no thank you," I demurred with a high, nervous laugh. "Can I just, uh—can I take a look around?" I backed towards the altar at the head of the 

"Are you sure?" a third nun at the front of the cathedral asked through her smile. Her eyes tracked my every move, even as her body stayed stock-still. "You look like you could use some food and a place to... rest?" I could've sworn her grin broadened even further.

"No, I uh—no thanks—" My halting apology broke off as my foot hit something on the ground. I dropped my gaze, uncertain of what I might've stepped on on the otherwise pristine-looking floor. The last trailing beams of light from the window caught the thing on the ground and reflected it back at me. Squinting, I knelt down and grabbed the cool piece of metal.

It was a hairpin.

I turned it over as the sun finally sank below the horizon outside. My heart dropped into my stomach, and I felt several presences gathering behind my turned back, casting shadows over the jewelry in my hand.

That was Guardia's royal crest.

And I was in  _ deep _ trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next SEVERAL chapters were sponsored by tumblr user imrryr! If you want to sponsor some chapters (though I'd recommend you let me get through my current sponsorships first), use my commission information on my profile page to get in touch with me!


	5. Chapter 5

Something strong and scaly wrapped around my ankle, and I shrieked as I was wrenched bodily upwards. I came face-to-face (albeit upside-down) with a vaguely feminine face—coupled with sulfur-yellow eyes and a grinning mouth bearing a pair of long, lethal-looking fangs. I fumbled frantically with my airgun and promptly dropped it. Damn, damn, damn! The blood was rushing to my head now, making me dizzy, and the naga holding me in its grip knew it. I patted desperately at my waist, searching for something, anything, to use as a makeshift weapon.

My fingers curled around the handle of my hammer, still dangling from its loop on my shorts.

That would work.

The naga screeched in agony as the head of my hammer cracked across its jaw, and its tail relinquished me, dropping me nearly onto my head. I scrabbled for my gun and bolted past the looming nagas, leaping over the altar for some semblance of shelter. There were four of them, writhing and hissing towards me. My hands shook as I took aim.

I fired off several shots in quick succession, but they quickly surrounded me again. I tried to jump back to the other side of the altar, but the nearest grabbed for me in its surprisingly powerful arms, pressing my arms tight to my sides and dragging me back against its front. I tried to kick back at it, but to little effect—I really,  _ really _ needed to work on that.

As the one held me, another slithered closer towards me, leveling that unsettling fangy grin at me. To my horror, it pressed itself up against me, forked tongue flicking out to taste my cheek, my neck—the monster pressed its lips against my cheek, fangs dragging along my skin and pricking into me. I struggled harder, but my head was already growing fuzzy. What did that thing  _ do _ to me? My spasming body slowly stilled, and I felt myself going slack in the naga's grip. The one in front of me, it seemed, was laughing at me, yellow eyes tracking me with unholy hunger in its gaze.

I barely had the presence of mind to squeeze the trigger of my gun. At this proximity, it found its mark; the naga gave a piercing shriek—slithered back—trembled—and finally fell.

Well, that was one.

Another approached, taloned fingers splayed and ready to gouge into my flesh. I struggled for a moment in the naga's grip and then snapped my head back, twisting my neck to smash the heavy metal communicator against my ear into the monster's flesh. I'm not sure what I hit, but it seemed to hurt, because the naga screeched and dropped me to the floor. I dragged myself to my feet, feeling much as though I was moving through syrup, and turned to face it again—with what strength I was able to muster up, I swung my hammer again, smashing it into the creature's bloodied skull. It reeled backwards, and I swung again—again. The monster's bone finally gave way under my hammer and it fell still.

That would've been fine, if I'd recalled the one behind me. Its razor claws drew four deep, bloody gashes across my arm.

I stumbled backwards, my hammer arm now more or less out of commission, and tried to level my trembling gun at it. The naga, I noticed, wasn't grinning anymore—it was snarling. Great. It was mad now.

I fired off another round of shots at it, but with my hand shaking the way it was, I missed most of them. I took a deep breath and held it—fired again. That shot found its mark in the naga's gut, but it merely hissed, saliva-slick fangs glittering in the dim light, and surged forwards. I squeezed my eyes shut and fired again.

Silence.

I cracked open an eye. I'd gotten it right in the forehead.

I hunched over, resting my hands on my thighs, and took a deep breath. That was close.  _ Way _ too close. I needed to work on my aim in addition to my fitness, it seemed. Three nagas were about two and a half too many.

Three...

Wait. Shit.

The fourth slammed into me from behind, sending me flying towards the opposite wall, and I crumpled in a heap on the floor. I couldn't do this anymore. I was still reeling from whatever the one had done to me, I was altogether worn out from fighting the other two—dammit. Lying on the floor of a cathedral hundreds of years before I was even born was  _ not _ the way I wanted to go out. I closed my eyes, hoping it'd be fast, if nothing else.

Then there was a conspicuous thud—a shriek—and all was still.

I opened my eyes again, and promptly yelped at the sight of a giant armored frog standing before me, nonchalantly wiping his sword free of naga blood. "Lower thine guard," he informed me sagely, "and thou'rt allowing the enemy in."

I didn't even have anything to say to that. I just stared dumbly at it, the cogs in my brain trying desperately to make this make some sense. A giant talking  _ frog knight _ just saved me from an evil naga nun. Sure, why not. My day was already crazy and terrible enough. Why  _ wouldn't _ there be a giant talking frog. It made as much sense as anything else.

"Thou'rt here to save the queen?" he asked in his deep, ragged voice, evidently unbothered by my unabashed dismay. "The lair is deep within. Will thee accompany me?"

He held out a slimy hand to me and I bodily recoiled, scrambling backwards. "You're a talking frog," I said numbly, my voice pitched high with nerves and disbelief. I shook my head and laughed shrilly. Of course it was. Of course!

The frog's throat expanded, giving him a rather disdainful expression. "My guise doth not incur thy trust," he noted, sheathing his sword once more. "Very well. Do as thee please. But I shall save the queen." He turned away from me and began to walk off.

The queen? ...Oh, dammit.

I groaned and used the nearby church pew to pull myself to my feet. "Wait," I called after him. He paused politely and looked back over his shoulder at me. "You don't seem like a bad... frog... person... thing..." He didn't look particularly amused at my faltering description. I sighed. "I mean..." I pinched the bridge of my nose. Whatever spell the naga had put on me was finally fading, and I was starting to really hurt where I'd been clawed. "Look... I'm... looking for the queen, too. Can we work together?"

He cocked his head and gave me something approaching a smile. "Certainly, my lady." Being addressed in such a way by a  _ frog _ nearly made me grimace. I stamped it down, trying not to offend him again.

"Do you have a name?"

"Frog will do."

_ Naturally. _ I bit back that response and instead simply said, "Nice to meet you, Frog."

His throat expanded again as he considered our situation. There wasn't much anywhere else that the queen could visibly be hiding. "Mayhap a hidden door lurks nigh?" he offered. "Let us search the environs."

I rubbed my hand against my sore face, wiping away the thin line of blood that the naga's fangs had drawn on my cheek. It was as good a plan as any, I supposed. "...Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next several chapters were sponsored by tumblr user imrryr! If you want to sponsor some chapters after this round is over, use my commission information on my profile page to get in touch with me!
> 
> Also, things that are tricky: trying to convey that FUCKING naga slow spell in writing


	6. Chapter 6

I found the hidden door in the cathedral purely by accident—I'd trailed a finger over the dull organ's keys, noting the thick dust atop them, and pressed a few to see if the thing even worked. And it did. Sorta. It appeared to be a player piano, and when I happened upon a particular key it began playing a series of chords, giving me quite the shock.

"Aha!" Frog croaked, clapping his slimy green hands together. "A door!"

I looked over, and sure enough, a panel of wall had slid away, revealing a large door of aging oak.

"Huh," I said. "I didn't think that would actually work."

Frog graciously opened the door for me, and I began to step out into the hall—only for Frog to hastily yank me back into the alcove. His slick hand on my bare arm was enough to make my skin crawl.

" _What?_ " I hissed, yanking my arm out from his grip.

"My apologies, lady Lucca—" yeah, I still couldn't get him to just call me Lucca "—but methinks I sense a presence beyond this wall. If I may?" He slipped past me and looked down the hall. "Hmph. Three Diablos lay in wait hence."

I groaned. "Is this whole place crawling with these things?"

"Unfortunately, milady, that may well be the case. Not to worry; I will dispatch them posthaste. Stay here, please."

That rubbed me the wrong way. I put my hands on my hips and ground my heels into the stone floor. "Hey, I _can_ take care of myself, y'know," I harrumphed. "Hello? Took out three nagas before you decided to show up?"

Frog had the decency to look abashed—or, well, as abashed as an oversized frog could look, anyway. "Of course, lady Lucca, I didn't mean to imply..."

"Oh, you implied it." I sighed and shook my head. My hand found the grip of my gun and I tugged it out, grasping it in both hands. "Let's just get this over with."

Frog, as it turned out, was actually more than competent with his sword, and cut his way through the hall with little assistance from me and my airgun. Frog beckoned for me to follow, so I holstered my gun once more and half-jogged after him into the next room.

To my dismay, it was practically swarming with mystics—and held three separate doors, besides.

"Which way should we go?" I hissed to my companion.

He contemplated the manner for a moment and then pointed at the far door in the center. "The central door seems to mark a place of import," he rumbled lowly. "Mayhaps that is our way through."

"The door guarded by the most mystics," I sighed and withdrew my gun once more. "Of course it is."

"If thee wish to stay back—"

"No, no, let's just do this."

In the end, we had to fight our way through four Diablos, four Gnashers, and innumerable amounts of Henches and Bats before we _finally_ hit the last room in the cathedral, and I was about two steps away from throttling the next thing I saw. I was sweaty, worn out, and covered in more blood and other assorted... _bodily fluids_ that I didn't even want to think about. Suffice to say, _not_ my favorite day ever.

My foul mood seemed to radiate off of me, because Frog finally stopped trying to engage me in any sort of conversation, rather just allowing me to stalk deeper into the cathedral in silence.

Finally, after yet another hallway packed out with mystics, I heard the chancellor's voice behind the door: "Prepare yourself, Queen Leene."

With little more than a grunt, I shouldered the set of doors open, my gun in hand. The elderly man whipped around with more agility than a man his age had any right to own. His eyes immediately fell on Frog and came alight with fury.

"You!" he thundered, fingers curling into fists. "How did you get in here!"

"Frog!" the queen cried, darting past the chancellor towards us.

"Majesty, stand back and allow me the honor!" Frog growled, raising his sword to the chancellor. "Lady Lucca, get Her Majesty out of here! I'll handle this scum myself!"

"On it," I agreed easily.

"It's useless to fight," the chancellor declared, eyes flashing and body trembling with blue static that jumped from his limbs. "No one will leave here alive!"

I grabbed Leene by the arm and bolted for the exit.

"Stupid frog," the chancellor growled behind us. "It's time you jumped off this mortal coil! True-form-change!"

"Wait, wait!" Queen Leene begged of me as we abandoned Frog to the monster behind us.

I skidded to a halt scant yards from the door, exasperated. "What, what is it? Uh, Your Highness." No need to add antagonizing royalty to the List of Things Lucca Has Done Wrong Today.

"Please, you must help him fight Yakra; he won't make it alone," the Queen begged, taking up both my hands in her own. I felt a tinge of heat creeping up my throat, and I was already preparing to agree when I saw tears forming in her gentle gray eyes.

And if I couldn't turn down a request from a pretty lady to begin with, I certainly couldn't turn down a request from one crying and holding my hands.

Yeah, I'm a total pushover. Let it go.

So with an aggravated sigh and a hasty "Please stay here Your Majesty," I ran back to Frog's side, rummaging around in my pack.

The chancellor—or, rather, Yakra— was now a great golden beast, with too many limbs and horns and fangs all over his body, and Frog was taking a serious beating. I nearly groaned, hating that the queen had been right.

"Frog, heads up!" I called, yanking one of my devices from my pack. Frog barely glanced up and dove out of the way as I aimed the little cylindrical device at Yakra. There was a brief pause. Nothing. Cursing, I smacked the machine against the flat of my palm a few times until there was a little mechanical whir and tried again.

It worked that time—I saw Yakra's eyes track the device for a moment, then roll up and—he crashed forward onto the ground in a dead faint.

Frog looked between my device and the prone Yakra in bewilderment. "Is it—? What was..."

"Hypnowave," I said, unable to keep the smugness from my voice. "A little invention of mine. It's a little, uh, temperamental, but hey, it worked. He's, uh, not dead, by the way, just sleeping. So if you wanna... you know... now would be the time."

Frog still looked utterly perplexed, but my half-assed explanation appeared to be enough for him. I looked away as he lifted his sword to strike a final blow, dragging my feet back to where I'd left the queen.

"Now, uh... Queen Leene," I started haltingly. "If Yakra was pretending to be the chancellor... d'you know where the actual chancellor is?"

She took me by the hand, and I stumbled, flustered, behind her as she led me to a large chest nearby. I tried tampering with the lock for only a moment before getting frustrated and taking my hammer to the contraption to just break it instead. Inside, as promised, was the real chancellor, who I quickly untied. He was more interested in reassuring Leene that he was undamaged and prepared to resume his duties at the castle than thanking me. No real surprise there, I suppose.

I leaned back against the chest and heaved a heavy sigh. Great, the Queen was saved. Now I needed a nap. And a bath. Bath first, though.

Then an immaculate gloved hand reached out before me, drawing me from my thoughts. "Huh," I started, poignant as I ever was. The Queen offered me a dazzling smile, and I felt my insides melt.

"Frog tells me you're the one who helped find and free us," she spoke beautifully, ever the picture of poise. "Please, join us as we return to the castle. I'm sure the King will be delighted to see you."

"Oh, um..." I fumbled, feeling my face heat up again. "Uh... yeah, okay, sure."

It occurred to me then that we must look ridiculous—the regal, beautiful Queen Leene holding down a pristine hand to help up a 19-year-old inventor sitting on her ass and covered in blood and filth. I was honestly amazed that she was willing to touch my hand at all. Nonetheless, I shyly put my hand in hers and allowed myself to be pulled up.

It didn't escape my attention that she held onto my hand the entire walk back to the castle. If she noticed me burying my scarlet face into my scarf, she was kind enough not to comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is this enough ship content to add a lucca/leene tag to this piece or nah
> 
> also, if you thought i was going to do a play-by-play of every single fight in the game, you were Mistaken


	7. Chapter 7

The King seemed utterly baffled when Leene walked into the court with the Chancellor, Frog, and the muddied-up, bloodied-up girl who'd supposedly saved the queen in tow. The Queen was gracious enough to explain the situation to him, and he welcomed me to the court with honor for the second time in under twenty-four hours.

"You have my thanks, Lucca," the King said cordially. Then bemusement passed over his face once more. "But... who was that girl we found in the canyon?"

_ The girl... _ My sleep-deprived brain jolted back into action.  _ Princess Nadia! _

"Uh, excuse me, uh, your majesties," I said hastily, tugging my hand back from Leene. I started jogging back towards the stairs, leaving a pair of confused royals behind me. "Just—just a second, I'll be right back!"

I tried to dash up the several floors to the queen's chambers, but developed a stitch in my side halfway up and jogged the rest of the way. I pushed past the maids congregated in the hall and rushed into the bedchamber just in time to see Marle—er, Nadia—slowly fade back into view. She looked for a moment like she might faint, so I rushed forward to grab her just in time for her to regain her footing and look up at me, startled. I pull up short.

"Princess Nadia," I managed to get out, awkwardly giving a little half-bow of the head.

"Huh... What happened?" she mumbled, scrubbing at her temples with the heels of her palms. Her eyes finally focus on mine, and widen slightly. "Lucca! It... it was awful..."

"What was?"

"I can't recall it all..." Her eyes go hazy again for a moment. "I was somewhere cold, dark... lonely." She met my gaze again. "Is that what it's like to... die?"

Nadia looks for a moment like she's about to faint, so I reach out to steady her by the shoulders. "I don't know but... it's okay, you're safe now. It's all good." She smiles faintly. I return the look. "Welcome back, Princess Nadia."

Her smile vanishes as though I'd snuffed it out. "Princess... Nadia...?" Her shoulders sagged. "I guess you figured it out, huh?"

"Not as soon as I'd care to admit," I offered, as if that helped at all.

"Sorry, Lucca," she sighed, taking my hands in hers. "I didn't mean to deceive you. But... you're right. I'm Princess Nadia. My father's King Guardia the XXXIII. I really liked being with you, and I just... you would've treated me differently if you'd known who I was."

I had to concede the point there. "Well... maybe a  _ little _ differently," I said, holding up my thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

Nadia smiled slightly anyway. "I like Marle better than 'Princess' anyway," she said.

"Marle it is, then."

She grinned properly, then, and threw her arms around me in a rib-crushing hug. I was too surprised to react; getting hugged by the princess while covered in blood and dirt was pretty low on my list of expectations for the day. Lower than 'get the princess lost in spacetime' for sure. She let me go only to hold me at arm's length. "The real queen's safe, right?"

It took me a second to get my thoughts together. "Uh... Yeah, yeah Queen Leene's downstairs with the King now."

"So we can go home?"

"I would  _ love _ to go home," I said wholeheartedly.

Marle grabbed my hand and gave it a fond squeeze, grinning impishly at me. "Lead the way," she said."

I led her down the stairs back to the throne room, where King Guardia and Leene were still conversing. I politely cleared my throat to call their attention. Marle's brows rose in surprise when the King stepped aside to reveal Leene. She released my hand to walk up to her.

"So, you're the real Queen Leene, huh?" Marle asked.

"You really could be my twin," was all Leene said, evidently amazed at the resemblance, herself.

Marle laughed. "Well... you two better get along. Or I'll be in big trouble. I'll keep my fingers crossed!"

Leene's brow creased slightly. "Excuse me?"

I cut my hand across my throat a few times, mouthing "no" at Marle. Her eyes widened in realization.

"Uh... nothing, nevermind," Marle laughed nervously. "Uh, Lucca, shouldn't we be going?"

"Yes," I agreed hastily, making my way towards the door, "we really should."

Marle jogged to catch up to me before we left the throne room. "That was awkward," she murmured aside to me.

I snorted softly. "Yeah. I dunno how much of this will affect the timeline, or if we're actually supposed to be here in the timeline, or... time travel is a mess, basically, I dunno what's what at the moment. Better not to tempt fate."

"You aren't kidding," Marle said as we stepped through the door—and nearly ran directly into Frog.

"Oh... Frog, hello," I said with some trepidation. "Aren't you going to go in and speak to the King and Queen?"

His throat expanded as he considered that. "Methinks not," he said finally, a note of sorrow in his croaking voice. "'Twas a fault of mine which endangered the Queen. I shall depart for good." He turned to face Marle, who promptly yelped and moved behind me. Frog smiled politely. "Indeed, your resemblance to the Queen is uncanny."

He turned to go, but no more than a few steps down, Frog paused again and turned to look back at us. "Lucca, you hath potential to be a good knight!" And with that, he rushed off.

I adjusted my glasses, watching his back as he left. "He wasn't so bad either," I absently mentioned over my shoulder to Marle.

"Let's just go home." She sounded about as dismayed about the giant frog as I'd been earlier. I chuckled and started out.

It was a short jaunt back to Truce Canyon, thankfully, and interrupted by imps only once. Fortunately between my gun and Marle's crossbow, they were sent scampering quickly. When the forest began looking familiar again, I tugged out my Key and began searching for the signature of the Gate I'd used to get here.

"How do we get home?" Marle asked, curiously eyeing the device.

I grinned as the display lit up with recognition. "Observe!" I twisted the device with a flick of the wrist and Marle leapt back as the Gate opened before us.

"Wow!" she gasped, stars in her eyes. "Lucca, you're amazing!"

"Ain't that the truth," I cackled before my thoughts caught up with my words. I cleared my throat and scratched at my cheek. "Oh, um... I mean..."

Marle gave me a gentle shove to the shoulder. "Enough with the false modesty!" she scolded. "You have a real gift!" She sighed, almost wistful. "I'd trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!"

I had to fight off the urge to scoff. "Well, if you say so..." I adjusted my glasses again and recalled the original topic. "Anyway, I call this thing a Gate. It's a kind of portal that takes you to the same location in a different era. Gates are very unstable, so I used the principle behind my Telepod device to create a Gate Key." I held up the device so she could see it better. "Now we can use them as we please."

Marle was rapt with attention at my explanation. "But why did  _ this _ gate suddenly appear?"

Without fail, any time I tried to explain my science projects to people, I got that one question I wasn't able to answer. "Either the Telepod had something to do with it," I said, "or... something else made it."

Marle's brow furrowed at that theory. I could tell she didn't like the idea of some powerful being tearing holes in spacetime. I tended to agree with her on that much. Finally she just shook her head. "This is getting weird. Let's at least head back to our own time."

"Agreed. Let's go."

With that, we joined hands again and side-stepped into the Gate before us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sponsored by tumblr user imrryr! If you want to sponsor some chapters, use my commission information on my profile page to get in touch with me!


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